Artist had a zest for life

Artist John Olsen said he last visited Smart at his Italian farmhouse 18 months ago.

He said they shared a long and wonderful friendship.

"I've known Jeffrey for over 50 years and [was] a great admirer of his zest for life and also his sense of independence," he said.

"He left Australia because Sydney at the time was going very abstract."

Author and friend David Malouf said Smart stuck to his unique semi-surrealist style of painting even when it was not popular.

"At no moment did he move from his own obsession, to take up what was fashionable. The fact that what he did later became fashionable was a stroke of luck," he said.

Director of the National Gallery of Australia, Ron Radford, said Smart would be remembered not only for the universal appeal of his work, "but [he was] also a great personality, as well a very interesting and intriguing and much-appreciated artist".

He said the artist took great time and care with his work.

"It was very painstaking, each work of art took a lot of time, there was nothing rushed about his art," he said.

Director of the Art Gallery of South Australia, Nick Mitzevich, said the public related well to his art.

"There are poetic connections that people can make through looking at his paintings," he said.

Adelaide artist Jeremy Gordon, who studied under Smart at East Sydney, said his work was unique and would be remembered for years to come.

"I think his control of technique, his use of colour and his composition above all. His work was always very considered, very deliberate and beautifully poised," he said.

He said Smart could hold an audience with his storytelling.

"That's the sort of man he could be, he could capture a room full of bohemians and keep them quiet for a bit," he laughed.

Smart spent most of his life in Italy and is survived by his partner of more than three decades, Ermes De Zan.

The artist would have turned 92 next month.

The University of South Australia said it would honour his life and contribution by naming its new $90 million learning centre, the Jeffrey Smart Building.

It said the decision had been made by the University Council only the day before it learnt of Smart's death in Tuscany.